Hello everyone, My name is Storyline, and I have played Gunfire reborn on and off for quite some time (since before the release of Qing yan). Quickly some disclaimers before we get into it.

• This happens to be the very first guide I have made, so expect some formatting issues or other random mistakes.
  
• Most of this guide are simply my opinions. You are entitled to your own opinions, and feel free to express them in the comments (be nice about it, however).
  
• I do not claim to be an expert on this game. I'm not a genius, but I like to believe that I have a decent understanding of how this game works.

So, with that out of the way, the single reason that makes Tao so good in Gunfire reborn is this.

Almost every part of her kit compliments each other

Before I can explain further, Allow me to catch you up on the basics of Tao's in-game abilities.

Swords out
"Unsheathe multiple flying swords, each dealing 300 DMG. The number of flying swords is determined by the stacks of [Blade Heart]. Each stack can summon 3 flying swords. For every 15 ammo consumed gain 1 stack of [Blade Heart] (up to 6 stacks)"

This is Tao's primary skill, or as I like to call it Sword Move. To put it simply

• Sword = Damage
  
• Shoot = More sword

Fatal Bloom
"Summon petals in front that explode outwards, marking all enemies with 6 meters and dealing 600 damage. The mark lasts for 6 seconds. [Fatal Bloom] deals DMG to a marked enemy again every time you hit it 12 times.

This is Tao's secondary skill, or as I like to call it Flower Move. Think of this skill as a free bullet every once and a while when you shoot a marked target. This also procs when you hit a target with Swords Move. it always has a minimum stack of 2.



So just by looking at those 2 abilities, you can see that weapons with high fire rates will complement Tao well. Some include.

Injectors

• Laser Gloves
  
• Thunderclap Gloves
  
• Rainbow
  
• Fire Dragon

(Most SMGs and Assualt rifles work too, just not to the extent of the weapons mentioned above)

And so begins, in this chapter I will be going over every ascension that Tao has access to, and also explain how it links up with other parts of Tao's Kit.

First, a neat little table that I shamelessly ripped from the Gunfire Reborn Wiki.







Growing Bloom The is more base damage and reduces the number of hits to proc said damage. Effectively making your gun and/or Sword Move better.

Cursed Mark Simple Debuff skill, actually doesn't link up with anything else. Still a good defensive skill nonetheless.

Flower Chain most of the other heroes have an Aoe ascension skill like this, (ex. Crown Prince's 'Energy Blade', or Lei Luo's 'Electric circuit'). But this skill will also proc 'Empathy with Sword' onto the other marked targets.

No Escape while the homing aspect is nice, The 20 percent DMG boost applies to EVERYTHING. So it makes your guns, Sword Move, and Flower Move better.

Mark Chaser This gives you a temporary buff that gives you a bonus for each new target with Flower Move. This skill also makes you guns, Sword Move, and Flower Move better.

Blade of Doom One of the few skills I don't recommend taking because this actually makes one other skill worse. The damage from this skill Is calculated based on how many stacks of Sword Move you have. So, realistically you would want to hold onto your stacks to keep the damage up. But that would make 'Sword enthusiast' pretty useless. I find I get more value out of 'Sword enthusiast' in most cases so I never take this skill.



Empathy with Sword Chance to summon a sword for free when shooting a target. As mentioned before this skill is affected by 'Flower chain'. This skill also is affected 'No Escape' and 'Mark Chaser' if you have an enemy marked. It's affected by each stack of 'Sword Enthusiast' and 'Swordsman'.

Sword Enthusiast Gives you a gun and skill DMG boost when you use Sword Move, which should be pretty often, Swords summoned by 'Empathy of Sword' proc this as well. This skill is affected by 'Sword Shadow', 'Luminous Heart' and 'Blade of Doom' as well.

Warlike Blade Another reason to use guns with a high RoF. This is a good skill because it helps with ammo management. Which can be a weakness of Taos.

Swordsman Now while this skill might seem contradictory to 'Sword Enthusiast', it's not. Because no matter how you like to play Tao, this skill will ALWAYS have value. Because Sword Move has 2 minimum stacks by default (when it's off cooldown, which is short anyway). that's at least a 16% percent Gun and Skill DMG buff. This skill is further improved by 'Luminous Heart'.

Sword Guard Defensive skill that restores shield when summoning a flying sword. Most of the Sheilds will come from Sword Move, but it can be proc'd by 'Blade of Doom' and 'Empathy with Sword'.

Ammo Extrractor Refills ammo when you kill things. The lvl.3 version also gives a stack of Sword Move, which is good for obvious reasons.


Sword Shadow Gives you more Swords when using Sword Move. This skill affects 'Sword Enthusiast' and will proc Flower Move faster.

Epic Swordcraft More sword damage. What's not to love? Buffs Sword Move 'Empathy with Sword' and 'Blade of Doom' and 'Amplified Sword' and 'Furious Wave'

Amplified Sword This gives a ramp-up effect to Sword Move pretty. Any Skill DMG buffs will make this better.

Sword Defense Defense boost when using Sword Move, 'Sword Shadow' will make the animation last longer, but it's not really significant.

Furious Wave Chance to double or triple the damage of a sword when hitting a target marked by Flower Move. Any Skill DMG buffs will make this better.

Luminous Heart Effects how many stacks you can have of Sword Move. At default Sword Move has a base of 2 stacks and a max of 6 stacks. This Skill can increase it to 5 and 9 stacks respectively. The lvl.3 version reduces the amount of ammo consumption to get a stack. This affects 'Sword Enthusiast', 'Swordsman' and 'Sword Guard'

Whew! You did it! you're at the end! It's now time for some final thoughts.

What I believe makes Tao so powerful there are so many combos in her ascensions trees. Many of her skills are great on their own, but when combined are so much better. She has skills that buff both skill and gun DMG, affecting almost every part of her kit. which is pretty powerful in my mind. She also has few 'bad' skills. While some are better than others, you are guaranteed to get value out of it. This is perhaps why she may be the most consistent hero in the game. No matter your RNG you can make work.

A draw to some players is that Tao doesn't have to pick between a 'skill' or 'gun' build like Lei Luo or Ging Yan do. Tao can't really have one without the other, You need to shoot to get value out of Flower Move and you need to shoot to get value out of Sword Move. This might be considered a drawback, however. Maybe you like the uncertainty that comes with a new run. (I know I do) The reason I play roguelikes is that each run is different. The fact that a run could turn into a Storm god Lei Luo, or turn into straight garbage, is cool to me.

In the end, it's how you like to play. The fact that Tao might be the "best" won't matter if you don't like the playstyle.

I would like to hear your thoughts as well. I could be spewing nonsense for all I know. After all, I'm just a stranger on the internet.